From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Sept. 8, 1988:

The Lawrence City Commission this week voted 5-0 to move forward with a Downtown Lawrence Association plan to institute diagonal parking on the east side of Vermont Street between Sixth and Seventh streets. The change would cut traffic on the one-way, southbound section of the street from three lanes to two and would increase parking spaces from 11 to 24 on the east side of the street. The only criticism of the plan came from Sam Pepple, owner of Everything But Ice, who said that the new parking arrangement would cause difficulties for his business. “I like the idea of diagonal parking on Vermont,” he said. “However, the front of my building is a loading dock. Putting diagonal parking in there would really louse things up.” Mayor Bob Schumm suggested to Pepple that delivery trucks could park in the alley next to the building, and Commissioner Dennis Constance pointed out that employees of Everything But Ice had been parking in front of the store and moving their vehicles whenever deliveries were being made. Constance suggested that the employees could continue doing so, with the only difference being that they would have to feed the meters. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Pepple sounded frustrated with the decision. “I was standing right in front of them, and not one of them could understand that I need the loading dock,” he said. “Nobody there loads trucks. We didn’t specifically have a problem down here with parking. But they’ve got their parking, and I don’t have a loading dock. There’s nothing I can do now.”